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sprawa-przybyszewskiej · 3 years

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I would like to present (extremely briefly; it's more of an invitation to their thoughts rather than anything else) two approaches that touch on a creative technique used by Przybyszewska, which has been spotted by some of her scholars, albeit each in its own way. Ewa Graczyk maintains that Przybyszewska did not write a historical drama in any way, but rather described a completely different reality, an universum in which the same events happen, but which doesn't take place on Earth, with us in it. She describes, then, something which I call The French Revolution', taking after mathematics' nomenclature. Kazimiera Ingdahl, on the other hand, spots traces of gnostic and manichean ideologies in Przybyszewska's writing, which, as we all know, are based solidly on the contrast between Heaven and Hell, knowledge and numbness, soul and mind. I mention them here solely to point out there is a dualism in her works, it is important and easily recognizable.

I have nowhere near the amount of erudition these scholars do, so I will constrict myself to some more visible matters. In my previous post about Antoine, I've made a remark that stuck with me for far longer than I had expected, and so I decided to elaborate on it.

The passage I'm talking about is this: because it could potentially reveal Saint-Just as another Danton-like minded individual, looking for power for himself through sacrifices of others. I want to explore whether Przybyszewska really did construct both of them alike?

To me it appears very probable, as crazy as it sounds. First of all, ALL of the personages are created in some reference to Robespierre. He is the only singular, original mind amongst them all, not to mentoin an axis around which other revolve, and so all of them, whether we like it or not, are somewhat similar to each other. Second of all, she clearly went in the direction of mirroring certain scenes, ideas, expressions (which I personally love to track down and compare them later), and it's exactly the same when talking about certain individuals. The two pairs (Robespierre – Saint-Just and Danton – Desmoulins) come to mind right away. They are constructed as parallels at least in some aspects and at least to some extent.

Wouldn't that, however, put Saint-Just and Desmoulins on the same/similar level, aren't they the ones who creat a parallel pair? Well, yes and no. I think they are a unit when it comes to personal matters, for rather obvious reasons. But I also think they are both put in similar situations, and yet their thinking is polar opposite of each other. They are both allowed to Robespierre's most personal sphere, and yet their reactions are completely different, which is one among the reasons as to why one of them meets a sad end by all accounts, and the other can die somewhat happy (as I will always mantain: if Przybyszewska managed to finish Thermidor, I am one hundred percent sure she would depict Antoine as one dying boldly and proudly, if only beause he died for a great cause and alongside Robespierre). On the other hand, spiritually and mentally, Camille resembles Maxime way, way more than Danton. They are both... maybe not exactly soft, but emotional. The main difference between them is Maxime is able to rein his feelings in when necessary (again, not always, not completely; vide his late night visit at Desmoulins', vide his attempt and saving him from the Luxembourg Palace), but as far as differences go, this one is actually minor. They are put in different positions, but their reactions are similar.

I would also wager to say Saint-Just and Robespierre don't have that much in common with each other in the plays, leaving out their political stances and their relationship. They are very different in terms of character traits: Maxime is more forgiving, calmer, quieter in all aspects. Antoine is more of a quicksilver, and also is regarded more as a tool in Maxime's hands, which I mean in the best way possible. While he has his own opinions, sometimes quite different to that of Robespierre's, he only entertains them in Maxime's presence, so that no one can put a splinter between them and turn them against each other. When they are turned against each other (during their quarrels, yes, but also during Thermidor, which is a beautiful study of such a case), he defers to Maximilien humbly and holds no grudges against him. This is pretty much the only soft side he ever presents to the audience, for when facing any other characters, he is sarcastic if not downright hostile, the only exception I can think of being Eleonore. He's not gentle, not even with Robespierre whom he respects so much. (I cannot get over how badly Wajda interpreted this in his movie, where in his very first scene Antoine brings Maxime an apple-tree branch in full blossom; while a sweet gesture, it made little sense, for the director not only didn't establish their special bond in any way, cutting their very important scene in Act II and a lot of their exchange of words in Act V out, but completely ignored the fact that in the play they did talk about trees blossming, but it was Maxime who pointed this out to Antoine. Honestly, it would make much more sense if in the movie he was the one giving Antoine flowers; altough I don't trust it would be executed well, so perhaps the best scenario would be to drop it altogether.)

This leaves Antoine and Danton as the unlikely pair. Here I wouldn't necessarily say they are put in different positions (following my train of comparison), because – depending on if you believe the confrontation between Danton and Robespierre to be honest or not – there is enough evidence in the play to mantain both of them want to establish power over nation through Robespierre. Danton is the villain of the play, but he isn't blind, he too wants to use Maximilien as a face of the dictature, as a tool to obtain more "normal" power for himself (normal power here would equal to money, respect, high office; the "abnormal" power is what Robespierre sort-of-dreams-of, an influence over people to direct them into doing what is necessary for the good of the whole of the nation, or better yet, the world). And Antoine wants more or less the same thing, the exception being he doesn't care at all for personal gains. He doesn't necessarily believe in Robespierre's visions of the future, one could even argue he doesn't understand them (this is clearly shown in Thermidor, where he reacts with a headache once Robespierre unfolds his plan in front of him: Stop it, Maxime. I can't keep up with you anymore.); he does, however, see the neccesity of establishing the dictature or some other extraordinary mean to obtain the total power over the state. Both he and Danton are blessed with a far-fetching political vision, the only thing differentiating them from Robespierre is that he's a much more brilliant chess player than any of them, when they can see few moves forward, he's already seen all the possible outcomes of the match. And all of these outcomes are bad, for Maxime is characterised as a pessimist, while Antoine and Danton are, generally speaking, optimistically inclined. Youthful foolishness indeed, except Antoine is not foolish! He's just optimistic. In Danton, the optimism takes a form of boldness and bravado, in Saint-Just it manifests as an unwavering faith in the one he considers to be so much more superior to himself, and also a certain amount of contempt for the ones he considers to be inferior. This is another trait he shares with Danton, and we have to admit, Przybyszewska did a really good job at presenting the same trait in them both in such different ways, that we like one, hate the other.

There is also the matter of how they treat Camille and what they think of him. Here, both are jealous, I think. Jealous of the special place Camille has in Robespierre's heart, scornful of his abilities as a politician and a journalist, disinclined to him as a person. Danton cares for him as far as his utility in being a leverage on Robespierre goes, but I don't think he hoards any warm feelings for him personally, and I don't say it only because he was willing to sacrifice Camille purely out of spite. A much better example to show what I mean is that Danton seems to have a much better functioning, more honest and professional relationship with Delacroix than with Camille, whom he keeps in the dark about absolutely everything from start to finish. I don't know if it was meant to be a symbol or not, but in their very last scene in the jail cell, Camille has to beg Danton not to snuff out the candle, which Danton does, albeit very reluctantly. In turn, Saint-Just talks about Camille in language dripping with contempt and jealousy of purely personal kind, offending him left and right, right to Robespierre's face – not to hurt Maxime, but to "open his eyes", so to speak. In one particularly harsh sentence he compares Camille to a dog, a child and a prostitue all in one breath. He not only doesn't regard him as an opponent, but barely recognizes him as a human being worth respect, in which he is sadly very similar to Danton.

Weirdly enough, they both regard Maximilien as human, which I think is interesting to notice. It would be really easy to write them in such a style that leaves way for them to see Robespierre as something more, something almost extraterrestrial, somebody who posseses abilites greater than normal humans do. And yet:

The first image is from The Last Nights of Ventose, my own translation, and it's directly from Antoine's compassionate speech. I didn't include Robespierre's response, because he just deflected, but deflection does mean he doesn't fully agree, so it's yet another similarity.

One more thing that comes to mind in a comparison like this is that Danton threatens Robespierre with the ultimate power. He doesn't think that Maxime will be able to live with it, with himself, if he ever decides to go this one step futher and become a dictator. Is this is because he wouldn't be able to live with himself, or does he truly underestimate Maxime, or he simply wants to make sure Maxime would not go in this direction precisley because he knows he would then be ustoppable? How very telling then, that in Antoine's mouth the very same thing is not a threat, but a promise! This ultimate power is born out of necessity, and it's a grace for the whole nation, because no other person could bear the weight of this "crown", but Maxime.

The main difference between Saint-Just and Danton, I think, is something which we have to believe, it's not written clearly anywhere, and this is also the thing I briefly touched uppon in the aforementioned post: we have to believe that Antoine has pure intentions, because we sure know Danton does not. These were the embers fueling the suspiscion in Maxime when he couldn't understand why Antoine would possibly push for the dictature so much – is his heart pure? This sounds overly dramatic, perhaps, but I think this dramaticism aligns perfectly with Maxime's overall characterisation. I think all readers believe in his good intentions, and the parallels constructing the characters help immensely in this judgement, for if Danton is rotten to the core, Antoine is as steady and pure as a marble column. Robespierre even calls one a pig, while the other deserves to be named an Apostle of liberty.

There is, however, another similarity between them, too. Both Antoine and Danton are willing to be dishonest in order to achieve their goals. This is this one thing that's hard for Robespierre to swallow, for he – like Camille – values honesty really highly and if he could, he'd always act honestly. Saint-Just, not to mention Danton, has no such scrupules. He sees the greater necessity as something erasing all other circumstances, and for this greater picture he is willing to sacrifice some of his integrity as a human being. With Danton, the situation is even less complex, for I don't believe he would be sacrificing his integrity in any way – this dishonesty lays at his very core and comes natural to him.

The arguments Saint-Just presents, and which differs from Robespierre's point of view, are also different from that of Danton's. Danton's vision of the present is filled with contempt for the people, for the masses who are less brilliant than him and few others are. It is worth noting that Przybyszewska really did think like this, this is something she believed in and while reading Danton's speeches in Act II Scene 3, what we actually hear is her own train of thoughts. The only difference is that she didn't disdain the people they way he did. She thought that being a mass, an unnamed pulp of flesh is not a bad thing (it was perhaps unfortunate, and I am sure thinking she was a genius like Robespierre helped her in maintainign this view). Base material is a nourishment for those who will lead these masses. We – the lesser people – are absolutely necessary for them – the greater ones – so that they can lead us out of the night and into the new epoch of enlightement, and there is nothing humiliating in being this nourishment/tool/base. Danton understood it only partially, for he wasn't ready for the greatest sacrifice of all: to be a genius, one has to get rid of everything personal, all needs and desires must be kept aside, and never again spoken of. Robespierre understood it, and I think Antoine did too. I think the best evidence for it is that he said, that he doesn't consider himself to be Robespierre's equal. Recently I hoped to prove it was a silent declaration of love; now I want to point out it is one because it showed Robespierre that Antoine understood this great sacrifice one has to make in order to be a leader, and in his own way, he has already done this. He has brushed aside personal vain and glory, his amour-propre, he degraded himself in order to magnify Maxime's importance. Danton may say: It's you whom I adore, but it is Antoine who shows it through his actions as well as his words.

#do you think they are constructed as parallels or am i delirious?#sprawa dantona #the danton case #L'Affaire Danton #Stanisława Przybyszewska #stanislawa przybyszewska #Maximilien Robespierre #maksymilian robespierre #antoine saint just #Antoni saint just #georges danton #jerzy danton #frev #french revolution #literary analysis

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xladymalice · 7 years

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Time to answer SOME Asks! xD - Part 2

Let’s put this sweetie at the top of the ask-replies. I kind of don’t want to hide him x’D <3

Anon 18: Working on sin currently too. But it takes freaking time. So much time. Just take this random doodle that I haven’t uploaded so far:

That’s how you get Pup horny btw. That’s a critical hit for him.

Welp.. there’s a ton more asks.. let’s go on then... hahaha....

@blackroses113sin18 Don’t be jelly D: it’s never good to be jelly! (Except for food, then I’ll take you and eat you up) Oh dear.. then you’re a veteran cookie or the like. It’s always great to read that some of you started to follow me just right when I started to join the Undertale fandom. I’m filled with determination and delight to see that I actually managed to hold your interest so far. I guess I’m doing a good job then. Thanks alot sweetie! I’m always trying to improve on my art and the more I draw these skellies the better I get. Like.. my very first attemps were so much harder and they didn’t seem right to me. I had to find my own style and in the end I’m kind of okay with it now. I don’t draw super cute and fluffy stuff.. my style has never been one of these cutie ones. I always do worry that I don’t do good or that I draw skellies super weird in comparison to others (as I said: my Sanses are bigger than “the mainstream” ones... ha) Lemme smooch and love you. When I read this ask you really brighten up my day. Sometimes I feel down and this one really did good on cheering me up. Thanks alot!

@soraya-chan Hm, I need to be in the mood of drawing something else tbh. I think the most cookies and random dudes should know by now that I’m super obsessed with Swapfell and Underswap. You maybe did notice it: I did draw some Underfell too and even Fellcest in some way. I do like the Fellbros, but my love is rather focused on Fellpaps than Red here. I will have to disappoint you again, dear ^^ I’m not interested in many other characters of Undertale other than the skeles. And in general no GrillbyxSans. I do watch stuff like that and accept it, but I won’t draw it myself. (I really need a good reason for that.)

I’m trying to consider other characters but... I would waste my time and strength on things I don’t like? That doesn’t make any sense for me and four you either. Pic’s look always trashy if I don’t want to draw it. Of course I could force myself, but where’s the point? If people want to see explicit couples they can commission me to do it. Commissions have a complete other motivation for me since I want to make this crazy supporter happy who likes my stuff this much. Sure, I do look at suggestions, but I’d rather take suggesteions into consideration that aim at my favorite skellies, which are Swapfell right now. (Underswap and even Underfell will be still part of) Thanks for your understanding :)

@vixenredfox HECK YEAH. I love him too D: like wtf, I’m so thirsty for him.. I need more yandere sfpap with me. Especially my possessive, crazy asshole... fckkk Glad my art does make you happy!

Anon 14: Makes absolutely sense anon. It’s almost losing the fun how many people want to hug my Swapfell Bro’s, are too scared or act like they’re not dangerous at all. Welp, try to hug them. You’ve seen how angry both can get. So uh.. I think it’s not good to piss of any of them. If you do something they don’t like automatically both will be mad. They are deeply connected to each other and they don’t like seeing the other angry. So both woul attack the one who annoys them, y’know? No fun game there :D

Anon 15: Working on it D: please be patieeeeent

Anon 16: Hah, you should see him if Pup does make him laugh for real. Then you’ll die a thousands of happy deaths. I mean.. ok ok.. at the x-mas special we got close to his genuine smile.

He loves his brother truly after all <3

Anon 17: No shit. A pile of bones that manage to get me horny. That’s just sick. I’m thirsty for fucking skeletons. Possessive ones. Who are basically freaks and psychos. I need some therapyst... but I’m sure nothing will help me to get out of this mess... (It’s still a pain to draw them ‘naked’ ...)

@flamefiends I hope you sweet, sweet cookie did see my newest comic “Dangerous Move”. Then you can fangirl some more over that freak. Gosh, I’m a sucker for psycho Pup.

@lulumoonprincess Heh, you will see some. But it also take times... like.. it’s a nsfw comic I’m working on and sometimes I’ve got troubles with drawing stuff like that. I don’t want to present tons of shit D:

Anon 19: You wanna fite me, cookie? We can do this right in front of all. Welp, we’ll see if you get what you want or go crying in a corner ;p

Anon 20: Hmm... maybe if I’m in the freaking mood for it :D good smut doesn’t happen forced! It’s rather sudden and boom!

Anon 21: You sure, Anon?

I think he could have anyone if he’d be interested~~~

Anon 22: Uh..uh.. don’t compliment me so much.. I’m really not this good with compliments... uhh... Q///Q Thank you sooooo much, Anon! I don’t know why you’re so shy to write me, but let me smooch you and overwhelm you with lots of love. My heart was all warm and fuzzy. I am always happy to read stuff like this... There are honestly times I feel that followers don’t really look at my art and postings in general. I know that not everyone is that interested in the artist himself but the comic and shit. Hearing that you went through my galery means alot to me! I hope I can make your day a bit better with each post by me!

@babypizzawonderland Roger that! I’m alwas on duty to create some random, but complex art! Mwehehe! Thanks dear <3

@luckydazephantom Hehe~ I’m listening to a lot of stuff. But usually it’s rock. I am terribly in love with Skillet, Three Days grace, Linking park. There are so many great bands. I even like some german rock bands, altough I usually prefer the english ones. So... uh... (some of the music I listen to is from AMVs. So uh.. deal with it. xD)

This. This. This This. Maybe This. This. Uhhh.. sometimes I’m super into nightcore. Maybe this.

@marookooart The question is what kind of ghost and why does it want to smooch me? How can I even smooch a ghost? I would fall through him right? xD

Anon 23: It’s always weird to read that I am suddenly the fav tumblr of someone... gosh, stop making me blush here. You’re welcome dear! That author is freaking amazing, you should try to read her other fics too! They’re reaaaally good!

Anon 24: Interesting question you’ve got there. I was confused a little since there’s still room to mix shit up... and sometimes I’m too stupid to read the things right. So.. if Pup would see Blue crying he would probably not care at first. However... looking into that teary face would remind him of something he really cares about. So he still would go there and check on him and MAYBE even comfort him like he did in xSympathy. He might be an asshole but he has a soft, weak spot for this one skele. And Blueberry does remind him alot of that special one. After all... SWAPfell has similiar traits with the Swaps~

Anon 25: Ohh I see. But.. but... it is really that interesting to see me freak out and hype stuff? xD Aren’t you bothered by my own fangirling or something???? Hahaha. I could talk about the fic too, if people want to discuss it. Usually I’m pampering my sweet muse on her AO3 account with comments or PM her. That’s where I really freak out and flood her with thoughts and feelings. Gosh, sometimes I do worry that I annoy her...... x’D I do tend to talk lots of trash and weird things, if I’m into something hahaha. But well, I kind of feel honored that someone is this interested in my opinion. I rather thought it would be boring for others to know or stuff... since talk is not as interesting as some picture for the most? Idk... You’ll see my excitement soon enough again XD

#mali answers stuff #xsympathy theory #anon asks #that's enough for today #it's around 3:30 am #time for bed #hahaha #RIP mali

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